Alan Webb Crowd Surfs, Proof That Life Isn’t Fair, Our Thoughts On The Women’s World Records, And High Praise For Sean McGorty And Elise Cranny

The Weeks That Were – February 3 – February 16, 2014

by LetsRun.comFebruary 19, 2014

Where has the all of the time gone? We’ve gone from twiddling our thumbs waiting for the 2014 season to begin a month to go to being swamped with amazing action.

What’s happened in the last two weeks? How about world records at 3000, 2 miles, half-marathon on the women’s side and the highest jump ever in the pole vault on the men’s side? Throw in the deepest men’s half-marathon in history on the men’s side, two nationally televised indoor meets in the US (New Balance and NYRR Millrose), one in Great Britain, the US and Kenyan cross country championships, the US Olympic Trials being awarded to a city offering $100,000 less in prize money, the first of our doping polls being released and the Winter Olympics and hopefully you’ll understand why we didn’t find time to write a weekly recap last week.

Watching the Winter Olympics have made us feel better about how poorly all of the Olympic sports are presented on television. Track fans shouldn’t take it personally.

In broadcasting school, Olympic tv producers must be told to show the face of the winner of every event no matter what is happening behind them. In a qualifying race whether it’s at the Olympics or in a track race, the key is all of the qualifying spots – not just the winner. In the medal round races, the key is the top 3, not just the winner. Memo to NBC executives, in that snowboard racing events, you need two cameras at each station. One for the leaders, and one for the battle for third.

Now that we ‘ve got that off our chest, we move on to a few thoughts we’ve had about the last two weeks of action.

If You Want to Learn About Your New 4×800 World Record Holders Click on the photo

It’s been an incredible month for Genzebe Dibaba. In the span of five days, she obliterated two of the world records for two of the most widely contested indoor events. First on February 1st, Dibaba ran 3:55.17 for 1500m crushing the old record of 3:58.28. Then five days later she ran 8:16.60 to obliterate the previous 3000m record of 8:23.72 (Meseret Defar).

For good measure, nine days later Dibaba took down Defar’s 2 mile record of 9:06.28 by running 9:00.48.

It’s one of the more impressive fortnights in the history of the sport.

Another Day Another World Record

After the 8:16, we know some track and field fans were wondering, “How is this possible?”

As the public relation leaders of the anti-doping movement, we imagine some of you might be surprised to learn our first thought wasn’t anything close “She’s doped to the gills” but more along the lines of, “What took so long?” We’ve long thought the very best women’s mid-d times were way slower than than they should be. Think about it this way. Women regularly run under 14:30 for 5000 (three did so in 2013). The corresponding 1500 equivalent for a performance like that is way better than 4:00 for 1500.

Once Dibaba ran 3:55 it wasn’t surprising she could then run 8:16.

Last week, we tried to track down LetsRun.com stat man John Kellogg to get him to convert a 14:30 5000 to 3000 and 1500 for us. While we were waiting for him to get back to us, we decided to go to the collegiate descending order list. All of the collegiate times in the US are shown at tfrrs.org. We went there clicked on the person we saw closest to 14:30 – Clemson sophomore Roland Hakes had run 14:30.30. What’s his 1500 pb? 3:55.91.

Similarly, we went to the 3000. We clicked on the person we saw closest to Dibaba’s 3000 world record of 8:16.60. Florida State sophomore Bryant Blahnik. What is Blahnik’s 1500 pb? 3:56.45. His 5000 and 10,000 times also are very similar to the top times being run internationally these days on the pro circuit by the top Ethiopian women. He’s got a 5000 pb of 14:25.39 and a 10,000 pb of 30:09.15. It’s never made much sense to us why the top runners who can run sub 14:30 were stuck mostly in the 3:57-4:00 1500 range.

We talked to one industry insider over the last few weeks about this very topic. His theory was the Ethiopian coaches aren’t real experienced in the mid-d events. Training at altitude in Ethiopia is great for long distance events. But it’s rarer and a little more difficult to train for the 1500 at altitude. The natural environment of Ethiopia has historically made it the country equivalent of the Colorado Buffaloes – a perfect spot to train for the longer stuff, but not necessarily known for its mid-d prowess. Our source said that when the traditional Ethiopian coaches do work on speed, they tend to over do it and burn the athletes out as they aren’t real familiar with the 1500 event.

That’s not to say that a real knowledgeable coach can’t get the job done in the 1500 at altitude. Jenny Simpson trained pretty well for the 1500 at altitude under Mark Wemtore and Juli Benson, and Genzebe Dibaba is now doing so, but not with the traditional Ethiopian national coaches but rather Jama Aden. The next best Ethiopian-born 1500 runner in the world? World champion Abebe Aregawi who also runs for Sweden and isn’t part of the Ethiopian team.

For the record, John Kellogg got back to us. A 14:30 5000 is equivalent to a 3:52.61 1,500 in his mind and 8:21.16 for 3,000. 8:16.60 is equivalent to a 3:50.58 1500 in his book so there’s sill quite a ways to go for the 1500 times to really catch up to the 3000/5000 equivalents.

In the 5000, the top American women currently have no shot of keeping up with the likes of Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba. The American record of 14:44.76 is more than 30 seconds off Tirunesh Dibaba’s 14:11.76 world record (10+ seconds per mile). It never made much sense to us that the top American women have been the best in the world recently in the 1500 when they are only running in the 3:59-4:00 range for 1500. The 1500/3000/2 mile times are simply finally starting to catch up to where they should be based on the corresponding 5000 times.

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The same logic applies to the recent half-marathon record of 65:12 by Florence Kiplagat. According to Mr. Kellogg, a 65:12 is equivalent to about 2:19 flat in the marathon. So it’s an example of a shorter record catching up a longer distance record.

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Of course Dibaba and Kiplagat both could be doping. All athletes are under suspicion. Surprise Olympic 1500m champ Taoufik Makhloufi and Dibaba both have had tremendous breakthroughs at 1500 since training under Jama Aden. As we wrote a few weeks ago after Dibaba’s 3:55, “Aden clearly is doing something different in his training group as they are having tremendous success.” That something different could very well be something besides drugs. It is perfectly natural and healthy for the sport to ask questions. However, we at LRC have never subscribed to the knee jerk reaction that all world records have to be because of drugs. And thankfully for the sport, many of you who voted in our “Clean” or “Dirty” World record polls think many of the records are clean.

****Sergey Bubka’s World Record Goes Down

Sergey Bubka is one of the legends of the sport having broken the pole vault world record 35 times indoor and out. Think about that – 35 times. Bubka set his first world record in 1984 and 30 years later he still held the indoor and outdoor world records.

The indoor record is now gone as France’s Renaud Lavillenie broke Bubka’s record at a meet in Donetsk, Ukraine where Bubka was on hand to watch. Interestingly, it was at the same meet in 1994 that Bubka set the previous world record. Video of the new record below. Lavillenie’s 6.16 is the highest vault indoors or out.

We’ve got the clip starting with Bubka’s looking on in nervous anticipation.

“(The Internet) was a blessing for me. My notoriety was based on that, and it was part of what allowed me to be a professional athlete. The internet has created opportunities for niche sports like running to really blossom so we could have stars and celebrities in the sport.”

– Webb expressing his love for the Internet. We, in turn, express it back. Webb certainly was a “must discuss” athlete from 2001 until now which essentially is the history of LetsRun.com (LRC started in May of 2000).

#3

“To be perfectly honest, taking a step back, I wouldn’t have re-signed me either. It’s based on performance, and I was off of my own standards.”

– Webb on not being re-signed by Nike.

#4

“The awesome thing is to wake up every day with that sense of purpose. The joy, the misery, the struggle to get every ounce out of yourself is awesome.”

So American mile record holder Alan Webb had his last pro track race at Millrose last week. Author (and LetsRun friend) Chris Lear, who has written the cult-classic Running With The Buffaloes, as well as Sub-4 on Alan Webb’s freshman year at Michigan was at Millrose to watch Webb’s last race (and talk to Webb about a potential second book).

Lear couldn’t believe that Webb didn’t get a standing ovation when introduced for the Wanamaker mile. So he made sure Webb get some VIP treatment at Coogan’s Restaurant – the Irish pub around the corner from the Armory after the race.

42 and 51 seconds – margin of victory for Sean McGorty and Elise Cranny at the US junior cross country championships in Bolder. That’s what we call domination.

McGorty is clearly a big talent. The 2013 Footlocker runner-up ran 8:45.61 for two miles at the New Balance nationals in North Carolina last year (after a dominating 4:04 win at Penn). In xc for Stanford, he showed glimpses of promise (5th at Pre-Nats) before getting sick and dropping out of Pac 12s and struggling at NCAAs (161st). With no spot to Worlds on the line this year, the junior fields certainly weren’t nearly as strong as some years but the guys McGorty beat have credentials. The 2nd and 3rd place were his Stanford teammates Jake Keelan (8:53.82 2 mile in HS) and Sam Wharton (6th Foot Locker). The runner-up in the girls race was Furman freshman Allie Buchalski (9:42 3000 pb).

Since we’re talking about USA xc, we can’t not give out high praise to Chris Derrick for remaining undefeated in the US as a pro in cross country. He’s two for two with a 25 second win over Luke Puskedra, but still has a way to go to catch Pat Porter who won eight straight.

The breakout performer of the weekend for sure was former Richmond runner Amy Van Alstine. She gave Ben Rosario‘s new Northern Arizona Elite team in Flagstaff a huge boost of credibility as she stunned hometown favorite Jenny Simpson.

Alstine graduated from Richmond in 2011 with pbs of 4:19, 9:29 and 16:03 for 1500, 3000 and 5000. She was 14th at NCAAs in the 5000 as a senior.Van Alstine has improved a lot since college to 4:14 and 15:36, but Simpson has pbs of 3:59, 8:42 and 14:56.

The record books will always show that the 2014 USA Cross Country champion is Amy Van Alstine, not Simpson.

Val Alstine won by a dominating 22 seconds which was the smallest margin of victory in the senior or junior races believe it or not.

Speaking of not appreciated performances, how about a three cheers for a new collegiate 30k record in Japan. Toyo’ Yuma Hattori ran 1:28:52 at the Kumanichi Road Race which David Monti says is equivalent to a 2:08:01 marathon and 60:58 half-marathon.

****Proof Positive That Life’s Not Fair

$1,497.41 (5500 AED) – amount of money that Kenya’s Paul Lonyangata won for breaking 1 hour in the half-marathon (something only 103 men in human history have every done) at the RAK Half-Marathon, where a record eight men broke 60 in the same right. Lonyangata was eighth in 59:54.

That same weekend, Ethiopia’s Feyera Gemeda won $65,000 for running 2:15:05 in Hong Kong and in the US, former NAU runner Jordan Chipangama won $3,000 at a 10-mile race in California in 48:00. 48:00 minutes is 62:55 half-marathon pace. If Lonyangata ran his 13.1 at an even pace, he would have split 10 miles in 45:41.

Speaking of the RAK Half, we noticed that 2011 World 10,000 champion and 2013 World 10,000 silver medallist Ibrahim Jeilan ran 61:47 for 10th as he gets ready for his marathon debut in London. Finishing 10th isn’t fun, but you don’t need to be in amazing 13.1 shape to do well at 26.2.

– Excerpt from DyeStat article on autistic high school star runner Michael Brannigan where his mother Edie talks about how running changed her son’s life. Michael won the NXN New York Regional in the fall and has qualified for the Millrose Games high school mile on Saturday.

– Advice that Benita Willis received from her coach before she went out and won the World XC title in 2004. Willis will be talking XC in Thursday in Boulder to get people pumped for Saturday’s USA XC Championships.

– Jenny Simpson talking about her race at the 2014 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix 2-Mile where she thought she was on the last lap and kicked too early. She still finished 2nd in 9:26.19 and ended up less than 3 seconds off drug cheat Regina Jacobs‘ American record of 9:23.38.

– Ryan Hill talking about his 3,000m race at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix where he challenged for the lead the last 400m and set a big PR to run 7:34.87, finishing right behind two of the best 5,000m runners on the planet in Hagos Gebrhiwet and Dejen Gebremeksel. After an amazing start to his first pro season, we ask, “Might Hill be the US’s top men’s distance runner right now?”

– Galen Rupp speaking at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix press conference, after he was asked where he keeps his 2012 Olympic 10,000 silver medal and does he look at it often. To find out what Leo Manzano and Nick Willis do with their silver medals, watch our interview with them here. Go here for all our NBIGP coverage.

– Former NFL lineman Alan Faneca, who dropped 100+ pounds to run a 3:56:17 at the New Orleans Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon this past weekend. Faneca said, “I was very nervous about going from the slow long run pace to all of a sudden running 30-45 seconds faster.” Props to Faneca for training seriously for this thing and having a time goal. Next thing you know he’ll be posting here.

– Oregon’s Trevor Dunbar and his father Marcus, talking about Trevor breaking 4 minutes in the mile last summer while wearing his father’s old Alaskan Track Club singlet and his father looking on. Marcus was the 1993 US indoor mile champion and had a PR of 4:00.58, which was the Alaskan state record until Trevor ran 3:59.06.